Seeking guidance after a strange nighttime experience, assalamu alaikum
Assalamu alaikum, I had a pretty unsettling experience last night and I’m looking for some advice on what this might mean, insha'Allah. I’m a young Muslim woman and I live with three other women in Brooklyn. Around 4am I was in my room watching a show on my laptop, facing the door. The door was fully shut, but right in front of me I saw it open - the knob moved and everything. I panicked thinking someone had come in, but there was no one there. Our main building door is locked from the inside and my roommates said they didn’t open my door. We don’t have the habit of opening doors without knocking in our apartment either. Later I was trying to sleep around midnight, and suddenly I felt someone sit on the bed beside me. I was lying with my stomach partly on the bed and my back exposed. I felt a hand push my upper back, pushing me down toward the mattress. I also heard a voice asking me to recite basic ayahs and short surahs like the ones we say in salah. The presence felt like a dark, heavy shadow. I asked, “Did Allah send you?” and the reply I heard was “yes.” Each time I recited the ayah or surah he asked for, the pressure eased a bit, then got stronger before the next one. I kept saying the shahada between them because I was terrified it might be the angel of death. After the last surah I came fully to my senses and there was nobody in the room. Normally I hug a pillow while sleeping and it usually falls to the floor at night, but when I woke it was propped up vertically on my side table. Maybe I’m overthinking, but my upper back still hurts where I felt the pushing - it’s been more than 12 hours. I’d appreciate any thoughts from anyone who’s encountered something similar or who knows of Islamic guidance on this - should I do specific duas, ruqyah, or other steps to seek protection? JazakAllahu khair.